Is That Deductible? The ChatRx 90-Day Planning Meeting

As the founder, I'm thrilled to share that I’m making incredible strides with my groundbreaking FDA device and product, ChatRx! This telemedicine company will revolutionizing the treatment of 32 acute infections in Indiana and Michigan. We just wrapped up our executive team’s pivotal 90-day planning meeting at our headquarters, and I couldn't be more excited about the future!

This transformative three-day session involved finalizing our MVP (Minimum Viable Product), refining our mission and values, creating a robust marketing strategy, and setting clear KPIs.

Our goal is clear: to “Go To Market” in January with a product that resonates with consumers and redefines how doctors can leverage AI-powered telemedicine solutions. While our Chief Marketing Officer (CMO), who lives in Tampa, was unable to attend in person due to an unexpected illness, we quickly pivoted to a virtual format. This change allowed our executive to align seamlessly and ensure every detail was prepared for our 2025 soft launch and beyond.

In this post, I’ll take you behind the scenes of our planning process. If you’re a physician interested in creating your own micro-business or learning more about the steps involved in building entrepreneurial business ventures, I invite you to book a SimpliMD consult at the end of this post to explore what SimpliMD can offer you. You’ll also find other ways SimpliMD can support your journey with our courses and business planning resources.

Building Our MVP: Creating a Solution for Acute Infections

ChatRx’s mission is to treat 32 specific acute infections in a simple, streamlined, and effective way for residents of Indiana and Michigan. We focused this three-day planning session on defining and finalizing every component of our MVP, aligning with our target audience, and refining our unique approach to telemedicine.

Our AI-powered FDA approved medical device leverages proprietary algorithms that I have honed over the years, translating real-world clinical experience into a user-friendly digital platform. One of the strengths of our model is the asynchronous approach—patients can use ChatRx on their own time, knowing they’ll receive a tailored response from a doctor-led, AI-powered system. This model saves them a trip to the clinic while ensuring they receive quality medical care.

We also dug into the details of clinical protocols, patient pathways, and risk management strategies to ensure our MVP would meet the highest clinical standards. And, as doctors ourselves, we understand the importance of trust and transparency, which is why we kept these considerations central to every design choice.

Crafting Our Marketing Message: Clear, Direct, and Trustworthy

With our MVP nearly complete, we shifted focus to our marketing plan. In today’s competitive digital space, a clear, cohesive message is crucial. We want potential patients to understand ChatRx at a glance: we’re a doctor-led but AI-powered niche based telehealth service, available exclusively in Indiana and Michigan, ready to tackle a specific list of acute infections.

Here’s a glimpse of our marketing strategy:

1. Identifying Pain Points: We honed in on why patients need ChatRx. Often, people with acute infections struggle to access care quickly, face long wait times, or can’t afford a traditional visit. Our marketing language focuses on convenience, affordability, and quality—meeting people where they are with the care they need 24/7 with a treatment experience that taks less than 5 minutes.

2. Messaging Pillars: We built our message around four pillars: Simplicity, Accessibility, Affordability, and Doctor-Led Care. From the first interaction, patients should know that ChatRx is straightforward and reliable, offering telemdedicine services for their acute infection that they can trust.

3. Platform-Specific Strategies: For our launch, we’re emphasizing social media and digital advertising, with targeted messaging designed to reach our target demographic in Indiana and Michigan. This marketing push also includes clear onboarding instructions, detailed FAQs, and simple design for ease of use.

Mission, Vision, and Core Values: Our True North

In any startup, especially in healthcare, it’s essential to have a true north. For ChatRx, our mission is about more than just treating infections—it’s about providing accessible, affordable, quality care to individuals and communities everywhere, all the time—including those that may be underserved or overlooked by traditional healthcare systems.

Our mission is to use doctor-led, AI-powered telehealth to address common acute infections, empowering patients to manage their health with confidence. Our vision is broader; we’re setting the stage for a new era in telemedicine, where innovative tools complement clinical judgment and extend healthcare access to more people by scaling my medical services.

We also articulated our core values:

• Patient-Centered: Our focus is on enhancing the patient experience, ensuring they feel cared for, informed, and respected.

• Innovation-Driven: ChatRx is built on cutting-edge technology, using AI in a way that supports and amplifies physician expertise without replacing the need for doctors.

• Trustworthy and Transparent: We want every patient to know they’re working with a doctor-led team that prioritizes their well-being.

• Affordable Care: I have had always been grounded in my working class roots, and we aim to make the medical care and the treatment process as low cost as possible for the consumer. This is why we have chosen cash only treatment without 3rd party involvement (insurance).

Setting Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and Metrics for Success

Measuring success for a product like ChatRx requires specific KPIs that cover both clinical and business metrics. For our launch, we established the following KPIs:

1. User Growth: Our goal is to onboard 10,000 users within the first 12 months, scaling across Indiana and Michigan initially and then expanding to 100,000 in year 2 within an enlarging national footprint as the demand grows.

2. User Retention: We’re targeting a high rate of return for patients and their dependents, which is crucial for building trust and ensuring patients feel confident in using ChatRx as a reliable health resource. Engagement is the key step in building this trust based relationship.

3. Customer Satisfaction: Patient reviews and feedback will be an integral part of our strategy. We plan to incorporate regular surveys and collect testimonials to help us continually improve. We anticipate that organic growth through satisfied customers will be our greatest engine for expansion. That's why we are also planning an affiliate marketing component for consumers.

Embracing Flexibility and Problem-Solving in a Rapidly Changing Environment

While our CMO had planned to join us in Northern Indiana for this meeting, unexpected health issues prevented him from traveling. However, this setback didn’t hinder our progress. We quickly shifted to a virtual format, working across time zones and schedules to complete all our objectives for the meeting.

This adaptability is emblematic of what it takes to succeed in the startup world. Every team member contributed to overcoming this hurdle, ensuring we could make the final decisions necessary to move forward with our product launch.

Why Now Is the Right Time to Launch ChatRx

Timing matters in healthcare, and we believe ChatRx is launching at a moment when patients are looking for new solutions. The demand for convenient, asynchronous telehealth is expected to grow rapidly, and ChatRx offers a solution that fits seamlessly into modern lifestyles while addressing critical gaps in access to care.

If you’re a physician interested in starting your own business venture, this might be the perfect time to consider a similar path. At SimpliMD, we’re here to help you succeed in the dynamic healthcare landscape.

Ready to Take the Next Step? SimpliMD Can Help

Our 90-day planning session has clarified just how transformative ChatRx will be, and we want to extend that same clarity to you.

• SimpliMD Personalized Consult: Curious about setting up your own micro-corporation? Book a $99 consult to start exploring the benefits of a SimpliMD membership, which includes $2500 worth of valuable resources.

• Creating a Practice Without Walls Course: Learn to build your micro-corporation with our course. We’ll guide you through the process of establishing a business that provides you with real agency in the marketplace.

• SimpliMD Business Plan Suite: Get access to our comprehensive Business Plan Template, a Micro-Corporation Budget Template to save you time, and a SWOT analysis template to optimize your planning.

Deducting What Counts: Business Expenses from Our 90-Day Planning Meeting

At the end of our 90-day planning meeting, we reviewed which expenses qualified as deductible business costs for ChatRx. As a startup, every decision on budget matters, and understanding what counts as a deductible expense helps us stay financially efficient while pushing forward our ambitious goals. Here’s a breakdown of what was deductible:

• Meeting Space Rental:We planned to rent meeting space in Northern Indiana to provide an ideal environment for focused work. Although we shifted to a virtual format, I still used the meeting space for conducting the meeting. The good news is that I used my own business development corporation's office location, essentially making it no cost. It would have been deductible had any cost been incurred.

• Tech Infrastructure: We invested in high-quality virtual meeting software and technology to maintain seamless communication throughout the sessions, qualifying as deductible tech expenses.

• Food and Refreshments: We had budgeted for meals and refreshments during our in-person meetings. Even with the virtual pivot, meal allowances for the attending team members are considered deductible, as they contribute to the working day.

• Transportation: Our CMO is a contractor, and his travel expenses, though ultimately unneeded due to illness, would have been fully deductible, as they were directly related to business operations and planning.

Yet, the greatest value gained during this session was not tangible or tax-deductible. The true power of our work came from being intensely focused as a team, brainstorming, problem-solving, and aligning around our vision for ChatRx. This commitment allowed us to create a robust 90-day plan we’re proud of—a roadmap designed to move us closer to our mission of revolutionizing telehealth.

Given our startup phase, we’ve adopted a rolling 90-day planning approach rather than a traditional 12-month strategic plan. This allows us to adapt quickly and keep our priorities clear and actionable. In the future, as we grow and expand, we’ll build upon these shorter, iterative plans to create a long-term strategy aligned with our goals and values.

If you’re inspired by our journey and are ready to create or grow your own micro-business, don’t forget to explore the SimpliMD personalized consult and tools that can help you build a thriving business from the ground up.

Final Thoughts: Paving the Way for a Doctor-Led Telehealth Revolution

As we prepare for ChatRx’s January launch, I’m struck by how impactful this journey has already been. Our team has built something unique, grounded in a shared vision and mission, and powered by innovation. Our success will not only be measured in user growth or patient satisfaction but by the way we reshape the telemedicine landscape and empower more physicians to take the reins of their careers.

If you’re ready to explore your path to self-employment, I invite you to join SimpliMD as a member, where today only, I will be making our membership price 50% off. For only $49 you will gain access to over $2500 in micro-business products! Whether you’re building a telehealth solution like ChatRx or looking to take control of your practice, we have the tools, templates, and support you need to succeed.